


New Hope 🎄

by itsinthestars



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Ben is about 9 yrs older, Chandrila, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, December - Freeform, Drama, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Friendship, Happy Ending, Holidays, Hugs, Mild Language, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rey is in her mid 20's, Reylo - Freeform, Romance, Shooting Star, Slow Burn, Trust, hand on cheek, once therapist and client, years have passed since
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:01:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27924952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsinthestars/pseuds/itsinthestars
Summary: Both Rey Johnson and Ben Solo feel they are on roads leading to nowhere until one December evening where new hope rises...
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19





	1. Hope

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a little different than my usual writings on here but I'm looking forward to writing this as I've had bad writer's block for a while now and this premise intrigued me because some is familiar and some is not so...anyway hope you like :)

As Rey Johnson paid for her groceries at the corner market, she heard the bell at the front door indicating a customer. She quickly said thanks to the cashier as she gripped each bag with her hands. She was ready to use her shoulder to push the door when she saw it open for her. In the back of her, she heard a man whisper almost gently, "Let me." She thought she recognized that voice, like from a dream or—

She looked back without lifting her head to meet the kind man's face. “Thanks,” she said, almost shyly. She turned around and walked quickly outside. She heard the door close behind her. At the last second, she decided to turn back and saw a tall man with a thick black coat and dark pants, walking away from her, going farther inside the market, past the produce. All she could make out was his hair. It was dark, almost black, and had a waviness to it, almost reaching his shoulders. Rey sighed and turned back, walking half a block to her apartment, braving the chilly December night.

In her small but decent sized sage colored kitchen, Rey put away her food. She took off her boots in front of the sink as she put the now-folded bags in a drawer. The food Rey was going to prepare for dinner was in front of her. She suddenly realized the item that was not in front of her. ”Damn. The olive oil,” Rey muttered. She looked up at the time from the microwave and sighed. It was near seven, and after a busy work week, all she wanted was to enjoy spaghetti and meatballs with cooked spinach in front of her television and finish the show she started to watch the previous weekend. She sighed, knowing she couldn’t have her meal without olive oil. She grudgingly put on her boots, walked to the coat hanger near her front door, and put on her warm coat, scarf, and beanie, opening her front door and going down the stairs to the apartment building’s entrance.

The slight wind outside made Rey tug her beanie over her ears as she walked to the market, faintly smelling an apple pie fresh from the oven as she passed by an open apartment window. It made her stomach grumble as she was steps away from the market when the tall man in the black coat was opening the market's door. She couldn't see his face yet but walked closer.

A few feet away from each other, with the help of Christmas lights wrapped around a nearby tree, she looked up at the man's face finally, and her eyes enlarged when she recognized who it was, and she stopped walking. The man met her stare in that same second, and he stopped walking too, rooted in place.

“Rey?” The man whispered as if he couldn’t believe this coincidence himself. He almost didn’t recognize her, with the dark grey beanie she wore, covering her hair—But her hazel eyes, he remembered well.

Rey felt herself give him a tremor of a smile as she said, "Dr—" She stammered, remembering this same mistake made all those years ago as she spoke with ease, "Hi, Ben."

Ben Solo lifted one side of his mouth in remembrance of his name said by her. It gave him a sense of calm from back then. "It's been a long time."

Rey, for some reason feeling a lump in her throat managed to say, “It has.” She looked at the grocery bag in Ben’s right hand. “Well, I don’t want to keep you from your Friday evening.”

Ben shrugged. “There’s nothing perishable in there—Listen,” Ben moved his mouth around as if unsure if he should continue. He went with his gut and continued, “There’s a diner just on the next block—”

“Tico’s.” Rey gave a small grin. “I love that place.”

Encouraged, Ben used his free hand to run through his hair. “I don’t know if you want to catch up or...” He was not sure what else to say, surprisingly.

“Can we?” Rey asked with genuine curiosity.

Ben nodded. “Yes, only if you feel—”

“I’d love to,” Rey interrupted, forgetting the corner market, forgetting the olive oil, forgetting yet a would be Friday night by herself.

Ben knew nothing was wrong with this, but something inside him felt nervous, something he never felt. He couldn't believe he was doing this but seeing Rey again lifted his spirits. For some reason, he felt hopeful, something he had not been for a while now. He pointed toward the direction of the diner and asked, "Shall we?"

Rey nodded and walked beside him, feeling just a bit of hope again. 


	2. Similarities

They were far away from the diner’s entrance, where Christmas lights shined brightly along with filled tables of people enjoying their Friday night. The lighting where Rey and Ben sat was dim, creating a cozy ambiance. They were at a small round table near the back of the diner.

Ben continued to stare at Rey with complete attention as she told him her inner thoughts, like before.

Rey didn't meet Ben's stare as she said, "I used to think I was going to do something great in this world—that I have a purpose." She looked down at her floral-themed mug filled with peppermint tea, touching the rough edges of a painted blue petal. She finally looked up and made eye contact with Ben, her once therapist years back. "But—I don't feel that way anymore," she said as she took a sip of her tea and placed the mug back down, satisfied with its taste.

Ben’s instincts took away as he immediately asked, “How long have you been feeling this way, Rey?”

She looked up at hearing the gentle way he said her name. It almost made it her smile. Underneath the table were her hands clasped on her lap. She pushed one of her nails into her skin. She was trying not to reveal more emotion. She wanted to keep it in. “For a few years now.” She nodded her head once before looking at her clasped hands set on her lap. “Since I graduated from University.”

Ben, hearing she graduated from University, touched him, knowing when he first met her, she was nineteen, unsure what to do after suffering from a tragic accident. He was going to speak when Rey continued to. 

She crossed her arms and talked as if she couldn't say it fast enough. "Apart from not having the career I desire, I feel like I've accidentally put this barrier between my friends and me since my best friend moved in with his boyfriend—I'm so happy for him, but now I feel just more alone and..." Rey shuts her mouth, not wanting to reveal the next part, but she feels she's on a roll, so what the fuck? She sighs heavily before saying, "And I've never really had a boyfriend..." She rolls her eyes in annoyance. "God-that's embarrassing."

Ben furrowed his brows and leaned a bit forward, interested, “Why is that embarrassing?”

Rey shrugged. "I'm twenty-six, and I've never been in a committed relationship. I don't know why, but that bothers me." Rey shut her eyes and felt the threat of tears streaming down. Dammit. Not here. She opened her eyes and could barely see Ben slide his unused napkin towards her. 

“Thank you,” Rey whispered as she brought his napkin to her eyes.

Ben had seen Rey cry before, but this time, it panged him. He sighed, “Listen, Rey,” He moved his mouth around. “I have to tell you that I quit my practice.”

“What?” Rey scrunched her nose. She couldn’t believe it.

He shook his head. “It’s been a year now—for personal reasons...”

Rey wondered what would make him stop his career because she thought he was legitimately a great therapist. Without him, she knew she would never have moved forward with her life and back at University.

Ben sighed before he said, “I just wanted to tell you, that anything I say to you know is not as a therapist but...” He stared into his eyes, wanting her to know he was sincere. “As a friend.”

Rey stared into his dark—caramel looking eyes and gulped. She nodded, grateful in that moment that he still wanted to talk with her, even after all she mentioned. “Thank you, Ben.”

He gave her a half-smile. “You know, life at times can be a real asshole—pardon my language.” He looked down as if he didn’t mean to sound so blunt.

Rey smiled, enjoying this different side of him, without the formality of acting like a proper therapist but acting like someone who also has hit a rough patch.

“But—I remember the young woman from all those years ago. If you could strive forward and achieve what you did back then—there’s still nothing stopping you from doing so now.”

Rey stared into Ben’s eyes, wanting to believe him. “I don’t know.” She put her clasped hands on the table, fidgeting. All of a sudden, she felt his warm hand on top of both of hers, stopping her fidgeting.

"You do know—You're a determined person, I know. Believe it or not, there are so many who feel like you are now but don't give in to it. Fight it."

Rey held onto his hand, feeling his warmth. “It feels impossible right now.”

Ben shook his head. “Believe it or not, Rey, I’m going through something similar.” He squeezed her hand before letting go. He looked down at his full cup of coffee but still didn’t drink it.

Rey couldn’t believe it—someone like him going through something similar! “You are?” she asked with furrowed brows.

Ben nodded. “It’s why I quit my practice—” He was going to say more but was interrupted by the waiter placing their food in front of them: His hamburger and salad in front of him and Rey’s cheeseburger with fries in front of her. It smelled delicious, he thought.

Rey realized she didn’t know Ben—he was always focused on her and rarely said anything about his personal life but now she could see something was ailing her former therapist and without thinking she moved her plate towards him and asked, “Want some French fries?”


	3. Friend

As Rey and Ben were eating their burgers, a waiter placed a new plate of french fries in the middle of the table. Ben looked up at the waiter and, in between munches, said, "Thanks." He grabbed one immediately and finished it with a satisfied sigh.

Rey watched him and scoffed. “It’s like you’ve never had fries before.”

Ben gave her a quick smirk before he said, “It’s been a while.”

She half-grinned, continuing to watch him. Without looking, she grabbed her mug and sipped her tea, watching him eat the last of his burger with almost politeness. She was not quick to look away when Ben matched her stare, and he almost looked shocked that she was watching him.

“Do I have something on my face?” He quickly retrieved his napkin from his lap and started to dab his chin and around his mouth, his lips, which Rey noticed were plump like a slice of a tangerine. She quickly shook her head, ridding her of such thoughts about her once therapist.

Rey looked away, anywhere but at him, as she gave a smile or rather a grimace. She wasn’t sure. “No, I was just observing how you eat.” She looked down.

“How I eat?”

Rey shrugged, then looked up and saw Ben’s puzzled expression. She sighed then said, “It’s like you have an order in the way you eat. First, your salad, finishing it to the last tomato, then eating your burger slowly, taking your time. It—God, I’m sorry, you must think I’m so weird.” She brought her hand to her forehead, shaking her head. The next thing she heard was his laughter, sounding so carefree. It almost startled her as she never really heard him laugh, not even in the year of her therapy with him.

Ben didn’t know what to do other than laugh. “Honestly, no one has ever commented on the way I eat—it’s refreshing,” he said truthfully.

Rey scrunched her lips together before saying, “Well, with the fries, you look completely normal.”

“Yeah? Like what?” Ben said as he grabbed another fry from their plate, chewing it quickly.

“Like you can’t get enough,” Rey said as she grabbed two fries and dabbed them in the ketchup before eating them.

Ben finished another fry before he said, “Exactly.” He gave her a wink before he took two fries this time.

Rey smiled, feeling so comfortable with Ben like they were in one of their therapy sessions. But they were not therapist and client anymore. They were something new—friends.

She wanted to ask him what similar situation he was going through but instead asked, “So, before we ran into each other, what were you going to do tonight?”

Ben finished another fry then grabbed a new napkin, wiping his hands. He looked at Rey and said, “Probably start to finally unpack some boxes that are scattered around my home and write.”

Rey’s brows lifted. “You write?”

Ben gave a small shrug. “Well, I journal actually—ever since I was a kid. It always helped me to get all my thoughts and feelings down.”

Rey whistled. “You must have so many journals.”

Ben looked away as if feeling guilty before he said, “Sixty-two.”

“Whoa! Are you going to use these to one day write a memoir or something?”

“No. I’ll probably just burn them.”

Rey’s eyes enlarged in surprise. “Really?!”

Ben ate another fry, finishing it in two bites. “I don’t know, honestly. It started as a hobby—something my Grandma encouraged me to do, and it just stuck.” He looked at Rey look at him, observing him again. He should feel uncomfortable and agitated, but he wasn’t. He felt at ease with Rey—always did—but now it was different, and he found himself enjoying the company of not a client but a friend. “You know, Rey, after our year of therapy, I hoped you would be okay—I mean, I wish that for everyone I meet but with you...” He looked down before staring back at her. “For a reason or another I felt you would be fine.”

Rey felt touched hearing this. “I wanted to e-mail you a few times, especially when I graduated but thought maybe that was inappropriate.” She shrugged. “Seems silly now to worry about that.”

Ben nodded, and he looked past Rey’s shoulder in thought. “I remember you told me after your parents—well, you saw a shooting star soar in the sky, and you saw it as a sign that they were okay because they were up in the stars now...” He moved his mouth around, debating if he should reveal— “I saw a shooting star last year, and it was the same night after...” He looked down, not ready to say what he wanted to say. “I thought about what you said and...” He stared into Rey’s curious hazel eyes and felt he could say wanted he wanted to say,”...I—”

“Rey?!” A female voice behind him interrupted Ben as Rose Tico was at their table and already giving Rey a huge hug.

“Rose! It’s so nice to see you,” she said after receiving one of Rose’s epic hugs.

“You too!” Rose smiled big, then turned to Ben and kept her smile. “Hey, I’m Rose, and you must be Rey’s boyfriend,” she said excitedly.

Both Rey and Ben turned toward Rose and said at the same time, “What?!”


	4. Shooting Star

Ben looked away as he said, “Umm...”

“We’re not...” Rey tried to say as she saw Ben move his mouth around in apprehension.

Rose’s smile quickly turned into worry. “Wait, you guys are not together?” She crossed her arms and looked stunned.

“We’re just catching up—” Ben began to say.

"We're friends," Rey said, at last, feeling at ease just saying it. She felt Ben's stare and looked up and saw he had a slight smile on his face as he gave her a nod.

He then extended his hand to Rose. “Ben Solo.”

They shake hands as Rey says, “Ben, this is Rose Tico. Her family owns this Diner.”

Ben grabs a fry and says, “Oh! Well, you have some delicious food. The fries, I—” He eats it and makes a thumbs up.

Rose laughed. “I’ll pass that to the cook.” She looked back at Rey. “You got my e-mail, right? About the Holiday party?” She quickly fixes her ponytail, waiting for Rey’s answer.

Rey looked down, considering not telling the truth, but then she stopped herself, thinking she couldn't do that to Rose, so she said quickly, "Umm yeah."

Rose moves forward to squeeze Rey's shoulder. "You are so going. Please! You can bring someone--a friend." She winked at Rey then grinned at Ben.

Rey chuckled before rolling her eyes. “Maybe.” She nods once.

Rose puts her hands together in satisfaction. “Hey, that’s better than past excuses you’ve made. Let me know in advance, okay?” She gave her friend a pouty smile.

Rey laughed, feeling slight anxiety inside as she said, “Will do.”

Rose smiles, quickly looks at Ben then back at Rey. “I’ll let you two get back to your dinner, see ya!” She waves at both of them before walking away.

Ben lifts his hand and waves back at Rose as Rey says, “Bye!”

Ben straightened in his chair as he grabbed a handful of fries. “Rose seems like a good friend,” he said.

Rey nodded. "She's the best. I met her a couple of years ago when I first moved out here to Chandrila. I was an assistant to a junior editor at a small newspaper, and during my first lunch break, I came here, tripped on the rug, and saved in the arms of Rose."

“Wow.”

“Ever since, I would come here for lunch, when Rose worked a shift, and the rest is as they say, history.

“Is she one of the friends you have put at a distance?”

“I didn’t mean to, but...yes—it’s been a while since we did anything together.”

“This upcoming Holiday party could be a good start to get back in communication with your friends.”

“Maybe.”

“That is better than no.”

Rey smiled.

The evening was getting colder as Rey and Ben walked side by side in the direction of Rey’s apartment. She looked up at Ben and saw his profile. He was looking straight ahead, his eyes almost sad, like telling her about the shooting star he saw.

Rey tugged on her beanie, making sure it covered her ears. "Earlier, you were talking about the shooting star you saw a year ago. You didn't finish talking about that, did you?

Ben waited a few seconds before he reluctantly shook his head. “No,” he whispered. He sighed and stopped in his tracks, making Rey do the same.

She turned and realized they were just a door away from her apartment building. She turned and found Ben staring as if what he would say was going to break him apart. She had never seen him this vulnerable. He for sure saw her like this and worse, but seeing her former therapist like this—was surprising and moving, she found.

"My..." Ben looked down at the stale sidewalk before looking back at Rey and found concern and curiosity in her expression. "My father passed away a year ago, Christmas morning. A couple of nights later, I was standing outside, in the backyard, looking up at the stars, and that's when I saw the shooting star. I immediately remembered what you told me and—" He ran his fingers through his hair as he said, "I was down on my knees after that, crying like I never have, losing someone I tried to understand my whole life—" He sighed, looking away.

It was instinct, as Rey lifted her hand and touched his right cheek, gently. He stared back at her in surprise. She scrunched her lips as she continued to touch his face, stroking two fingers against his cool cheek. “I’m so sorry—Ben, I—” She didn’t know what else to say, so she did the next best thing to console him and removed her hand from his face. Within seconds she hugged him, her arms moving inside his coat, touching his dark sweater underneath, as she moved her arms around his lean waist, her cheek feeling the smooth material of his shirt at his chest. Just then, she felt the tightness, he held, release as he sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist, over her coat.

She didn’t know how long they stood with their arms around each other, feeling each other’s warmth, needing this touch. Rey opened her eyes and it was just in time. “Ben, look!” She immediately moved so he can turn and together above them, was a shooting star soaring above them, it’s magical light there one second then gone the next.

“What do you suppose that means this time?” Ben asked, realizing he still had an arm around Rey’s waist.

Rey felt his touch and half-smiled. “I don’t know—I guess we’ll find out.” She turns to look up at him and sees him form a small smile at her and nods.

“Sounds good,” is all he said.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments are always appreciated :)
> 
> I'm on Tumblr: https://wishingupontheskyandstars.tumblr.com


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